New York Choir Tour

We traveled all over the northern east coast including Ohio to sing for people in schools and churhes. We first went to New York in a little town called Baldwinsville where 3 of our very own Elmhurst College choir students were born and raised. It was a lot of fun and special for those three people because their families can't fly out and see them perform everytime we have a local concert. The look of pride on their family and friends' facas just stood out from everyone else's in the audience. We took a tour bus because we only stayed at a hotel or at a family's house for a maximum of 1-2 nights. The home stays were awesome because we got to meet new people and hear their great boston and New York Accents. Next we went to a high school in Boston and actually sang WITH them at a concert which was fun because the choir was literally twice it's size. Then after 8 hours of traveling we stayed in New York City for two nights. It was a crappy hotel, but PERFECT location. Everything was walking distance and Time Square was 2 blocks away along with the Broadway theaters and great restaurants everywhere! On our way back to Elmhurst, we stopped in a little town of Ohio to show a high school what college choir was like. No matter how big or small the audience was, that important thing is that we touced just one persons heart and because of us they stay with music during college and even the rest of their life. That's all it takes to reach success.

Time Commitments in College

Another challenge facing student athletes is the ability to juggle their team, class and social obligations. For Nick Hartigan '06, a running back for the football team, "It was tough balancing at first ... but it got better" after his first year.Woodson agrees that the transition between high school and college sports is not easy. "Between the running, the workouts and practice ... it is a much larger time commitment," he said. Some athletes choose to end their sports careers in order to re-balance their time commitments. This is just an example of people in college playing sprots and not having a lot of time.

Combating the Jock Stereotype

From division I down to division III, the negative stereotype that immaturely gets thrown in high school and carries over to college athletics is the word jock. According to dictionary.die.net, jock can be defined as "a person trained to compete in sports." So how did this term develop over time to become negative? Because of the importance extracurriculars serve to schools, athletes market the school they attend and become the face of it. Whatever they do on or off the field reflects what the school stands for. Therefore, athletes are more popular because they have a big responsibility on campus in comparison to the average student. Also, with the student- athlete hectic schedule, teachers are more understanding to extensions, late assignments, etc. because of the time spent on athletics serving the school. This is when the average student becomes enraged believing that athletes are lazy, are shown favoritism, and are stuck up. When really they are trying to earn the same education as any other student. This has become a on-going issue that had separated student bodies across the nation at colleges everywhere ranging from ivy league schools as Harvard or Princeton to your private colleges such as Elmhurst. From a student-athlete at Brown University, "I think there are mainly two groups on campus (concerning) the way athletes are perceived," she said. "There is a group that perceives us as jocks and that we don't belong here ... and that we don't do anything other than sports." Therefore, people who do feel this way can be persuaded that athletes are students too just trying to get a good education leading to earning a living. http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2005/02/16/Focus/StudentAthletes.Face.Stereotypes.In.And.Out.Of.Classroom-865849.shtml

Spring Ball is finally over!!!

Spring ball has just finish up. It lasted the hole month of April. We had practice at 6 a.m in the morning and it lasted until 8.am. We had practice four days a week. On some of the days we had practice we also had running after practice got over. We barely had any free time to do anything. We were always either practicing or doing homework. It got alittle old because we had not free time to do anything I am glad that it is over so we can finally do stuff.

Commitment

The majority of the topics in this team of blogs dealing with extracurriculars at Elmhurst is definitely commitment and time management. Especially with collegiate sports and activities (i.e. choir, band, theatre.), they require a lot more than just a couple hours a week. When one is involved in such events and activities, it tends to be something you commit to every single day of the week, for months at a time. In order to be successful in these activities, you must be able to commit the most of your spare time and effort to them. Commitment is key, and that is usually what is required to participate.
Time management is crucial as well. It is difficult to hold a job while being involved, but if one is able to do so it is most likely not an easy task. Take that on top of all the time put into the sport or activity, and then include going to class and all the school work that must be done. There is not a whole lot of time for fun or personal leisure, unless there is a day off or it is the weekend. It is not a simple task, but many are able to manage it, and do it well. I tip my hat to those individuals.

Spring Choir Concert April 20, 2008

On Sunday, we had our final choir concert. There were three groups that performed: Chamber Singers, Women's Chorus, and Concert Choir. This was also President Curitain's final choir concert so it was a tribute to his retirement. This was a special concert because the president holds a special place in his heart for the concert choir simply because he belonged to a choir in college. We sang many songs which held certain messages we, the choir, wanted to send to the president. For example, we sang "From This House" which sends a message of where ever you are, its the people you are with that make it home. We also did not put one song in the program that we sang which was "The Twenty-Thirt Psalm" which President Curitain sang in his choir. Hopefully this concert touched his heart and he will never forget his final choir concert at Elmhurst College.

Wrestling at Elmhurst

Granted, I was only part of the Elmhurst Wrestling Team for about 4 months, which was mostly pre-season so I was unable to experience the full regular season, I do believe I experienced enough to talk a bit about it. The time that I did spend on the team, spanning from August to November, involved vigorous workouts, along with intense training and practices. During the summer until mid-October or so, we had running or weight training every day but Sunday. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were spent in the weight room, then Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays were spent running miles or sprinting up hills and stairs. After being involved with all of that for four months I'm pretty sure I was in the best shape of my life. Come Mid-October into November, we began actual practices everyday I believe from 3-6pm or so. Practices, for the time being, were held at York High School. Practice involved a great cardio workout through practicing shots, takedowns, and fine-tuning other moves.
Now, the fact that I am a commuter, as well as the fact that I work two jobs and am paying for my own education led me to make the decision to no longer be a part of the team and complete the season. It was basically the inability to manage wrestling along with all my other commitments, and I could not put all the time into this extra-curricular that was necessary to be successful. That's a little explination I wanted to give because not many people knew the reasoning behind me leaving.

Remaining Schedule for Football and Reflection

As the off-season comes to a close and we head into the summer, it is nice to reflect on all the hard work put in from November through May. With starting in November with working out four days a week in the weight room, to J-Term lifting and conditioning, and now to present day spring ball that takes place at 6 A.M., I feel as a team we have worked harder than any other team in the CCIW conference. Therefore, with the past four seasons with a record of 6 wins and four losses, it looks like were going to break that standard and compete for the CCIW Championship. With a young defence and an experienced offence, I believe that we have the makeup this year to make strides that would make Elmhurst and its students proud.

Football is Life

Football is the only thing that I have time for at Elmhurst College. Football takes up all of my time. I am either lifting at 7 a.m or I have practice at 6 a.m every morning. I do not have time at night to go hangout with my friends or go out. If i do get any free time I am either sleeping or doing homework. I have been doing this since the start of the school year. I wish sometimes that I could get a break. It gets frustrating sometimes not being able to do something because I have to be up so early the next morning.